Electrical connectors may provide temporary or permanent interfaces in electrical circuits. At the time of this writing, there are literally hundreds of types of electrical connectors. One common type, for example, utilizes a flat conductive blade (i.e., a male blade terminal) and a corresponding blade receptacle (i.e., a female blade terminal) to form a manually disconnectable electrical connection. To facilitate the joining of several such terminals at once, the male blade terminals and female blade terminals may be installed in respective housings (e.g., jacks or plugs) that are themselves mechanically joinable.
Electrical connectors of the type described above are frequently exposed to harsh environments. For example, those connectors utilized to form electrical circuits between the electrical systems of trailers and tow vehicles are frequently positioned near the road and are therefore exposed to large amounts of dirt and moisture. Dirt can coat the electrical terminals, forming a high-resistance surface layer. Moisture, especially when combined with road salt, can corrode the electrical terminals. Ultimately, this dirt and/or corrosion can cause a trailer to no longer function properly and, consequently, create an unsafe driving condition.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for low-cost apparatus that make it easy and convenient to clean dirt and corrosion from electrical connectors such as blade-type electrical connectors so that these electrical connectors are capable of reliably forming and maintaining low-resistance electrical connections.